promoting sustainable livelihoods and adapting to climate...
TRANSCRIPT
Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods and Adapting to Climate Change in a Post Conflict Setting
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 2
Funded by: Comic Relief: Grant Code: GR002-0151-NGGF
Copyright: Permission is granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying, hiring,
lending is prohibited.
Preface
APT Action on Poverty is a UK based charity working to reduce the poverty of the most poor and
vulnerable people in Africa and Asia by helping them get skills and knowledge to have a sustainable
livelihood. We aim to provide opportunities for vulnerable people to improve their quality of life and
address the root causes of their poverty.
Our target groups include people living with HIV/AIDS, disabled people and vulnerable women and
youths, as well as people facing harsh environmental conditions, or rebuilding their lives following
conflict or natural disasters.
This “how to” guide is intended as a practical handbook on how to implement a “sustainable livelihoods”
and climate change adaptation programme, for organisations working with vulnerable people
Main Author:
Sharon Truelove
Independent Evaluation, Training and Technical Advice in Relief, Recovery, Cash Programming
and Development: [email protected]
Contact and editor:
Adrian Marshall,
Programme Manager,
APT Action on Poverty,
Nicholas House,
Heath Park,
Main Road,
Cropthorne,
WR10 3NE
United Kingdom
Tel: +44(0)1386 861294
WWW.aptuk.org.uk
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 3
Contents
Introduction to the Approach and Key Aspects ........................................................... 5
The 7 Steps to Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods ..................................................... 8
Step 1: Sensitisation, Selection and Identification ....................................................... 8
1.1 Community Selection .................................................................................................. 8
1.2 Initial Community Sensitisation, Consultations and Leader Identification .................... 9
1.3 Formulate Beneficiary Selection Criteria that Emphasise Vulnerable Groups ............. 9
Step 2: Developing CBO’s with Strong Leaders ......................................................... 12
2.1 Selection and Capacity Building of CBO leaders ....................................................... 12
2.1 Supporting Cooperative Organisation with better links to duty bearers ..................... 13
Step 3: Livelihood Activity and Enterprise Selection ................................................. 14
Step 4: Beneficiary Technical and Business Skills Capacity Building .................... 16
Step 5: Develop a Saving, Loans & Investment Culture ............................................ 17
Step 6: Set up Apprenticeships ................................................................................... 19
Step 7: Set up a Basket of Livelihoods Interventions ................................................ 21
7.1 Multiple Livelihood Strategies ................................................................................... 21
7.2 Broad Ranging Livestock and Poultry Interventions .................................................. 24
Integrating Climate Change Adaptation ...................................................................... 27
Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 29
Annexe 1 - Findings from the Climate Change Programme.…………………………… ..30
Annexe 2 - Climate Change Proofing Tool ..................................................................... 40
Annexe 3 – Ugandan Training Modules Used ................................................................ 49
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 4
Abbreviations:
APT APT Action on Poverty
BCG Business Creations Group (APT Sri
Lanka Partner)
BF Beneficiary
CB Capacity Building
CBO Community based organisation
FGD Focus Group Discussion
HI
IDP
Heifer International – Uganda
Internally Displaced People
IGA Income generating activity
LH Livelihood
NAADS – National Agricultural Advisory
Services
POG Passing on the Gift
PWD People with disabilities
PLWHA People living with HIV/AIDS
SLA Sustainable Livelihoods Approach
VSLA Village Savings and loans
Associations
TOT Training of Trainers
VEDCO Volunteer Efforts for Development
Concerns
VSLA Village savings and lending
association
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 5
Introduction to the Approach and Key Aspects
This guide shows you ‘how to’ design and implement a sustainable livelihoods and climate change adaptation programme that suits a post conflict or post disaster environment, focussing on some of the most vulnerable and at risk groups in society. It is a successful approach which builds upon the learning from APT partner programmes elsewhere in Africa and Asia. The activities in this guide to implementing a sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) have been tried
and tested over the last four years and shown to be highly effective at increasing the food security and
incomes of almost 1000 poor, vulnerable, conflict and climate change affected households in Northern
Uganda through a partnership between VEDCO1, Heifer International Uganda (HI-U) and APT Action on
Poverty UK from 2010 to 2014.
This integrated climate change adaptation and sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) is a tool for
increasing the incomes of poor and vulnerable families. It is designed specifically to overcome the
problems encountered by programmes in post conflict and post crisis settings where there is often: the
need to re-clear and re-affirm access to land; re-equip households with livelihood inputs and assets;
update people who have lost traditional livelihood skills and missed educational opportunities; and
perhaps even more importantly to re-build trusted relations within communities, through promoting
communication, co-operation and sharing mutual benefits.
Using this approach, the programme was able to turn around the fortunes of some of the most vulnerable, disabled and HIV/AIDs affected households, leaving them with crop and income surpluses sufficient to repay debts and invest in enterprise development, education and healthcare.
Key Aspects of this Approach
1. Establish community groups with a core of strong, well trained leaders able to:
Advise beneficiaries on ways to strengthen their businesses and livelihoods;
Run small savings and loan schemes.
Speak out and influence decision making at all levels.
Link beneficiaries to markets and service providers.
Come together to run cooperative producing and marketing organisations.
2. Build the capacity of beneficiaries in:
New and improved skills in their existing or chosen livelihood, such as improved agricultural
and livestock practices or through apprenticeships (in tailoring, soap production, driving,
mechanics etc.)
1 Volunteer Efforts for Development Concerns and Heifer International Uganda.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 6
Keep good business records and calculate profits and losses. This will assist with finding new
markets and understanding ways of getting better prices and reducing costs2;
Speaking out and influence decision making, and access duty bearers and service providers.
This approach tackles the discrimination faced by women, people with disabilities (PWD), people
living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and other marginal or excluded groups through stimulating
economic success stories that tackle assumptions about the capacities and capabilities of the
people in these groups
3. Provide beneficiaries with livelihood and business inputs and assets
These could be draught resistant seeds, tree seedlings, enhanced livestock breeds, tools,
equipment and some stock to start small businesses.
After substantial training in improved crop and livestock production practices (see table of
training types opposite and individual modules in Annex 1), many of which are designed to adapt
production to the impacts of climate changes, beneficiaries are provided with3 key agricultural or
livestock and poultry inputs and assets.
Youth apprentices that complete their training gain ‘business kits’ that have assets and other
inputs which they4 have identified as crucial to either:
The start-up of their individual or a group new businesses,
The expansion or diversification of an existing business or
Employment by an existing local business.
Key learning: Introduce diversity, increase appropriateness and avoid competition.
By offering a ‘basket’ of intervention types. Offering wide ranging new economic opportunities
increases diversity of income which is the key to adaptation to climate change.
4. Integrate climate change5 adaptation methods into the livelihoods approach, right
from the start based around very clear communications messages linked to a basket of available
climate change adaptation strategies, such as;
‘increase the variety of what you already produce’ (lots of differing seeds/crops/animal types will
mean more are likely to survive),
‘increase the suitability of what is produced to climate change conditions’ (wind, hail, drought
or flood tolerant species or varieties to suit conditions or early maturing varieties, with nursery bed
rearing and staggered planting to give maximum opportunity to catch the best season and provide
flexibility to avoid the risks of increasingly volatile and unpredictable seasons.
Increase the price for what is produced’ – higher value crops, quick growing, reduced losses
through better storage, processing and preservation.
Better price at market through cooperative marketing techniques: Ensuring farmers know
where and how to access best prices. Adding value to produce through processing (honey and high
value honey products, fruits to jam, vegetables to sauces, goats to well butchered meat or leather
2 Through cooperating around transport and marketing of goods in particular.
3 Or could be given cash grants or vouchers for
4 In close consultation with their experienced apprenticeship business trainers
5 And disaster risk reduction
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 7
goods etc.). Accessing economies of scale and advantages of promoting joint marketing, and
establishing preferable market linkages with distant suppliers6 and storage through co-operatives.
‘increase the diversity of your income sources’ – developing new income sources from existing
production and branching out into new enterprise types that are less dependent on climatic
conditions (bee keeping, wood fuel or timber growing, fruit tree growing etc.) and other enterprises
(petty trade, poultry rearing etc.)
‘Reduce your use of unsustainable resources’ – rain water harvesting, woodlots, fuel efficient
stoves, biomass briquettes etc.
Develop a Culture of helping your neighbour through a ‘Pass on the Gift’ approach – Whereby
the entire above mentioned programme gains, be they; knowledge, skill or input and asset gains are
given under the agreement that beneficiaries will ‘Pass on the gift’ as much as possible. The classic
example being that of the ‘passing on’ of the first kid born of a project donated goat to another
neighbouring vulnerable family. With the intention of promoting communication, cooperation and re-
building community relations through sharing mutual benefits. The cascading of the benefits of the
programme throughout the community and neighbouring communities has a deliberate community
building, peace building and conflict resolution objective in mind.
Pass on the Gift – This is where the outputs of any project gain be that knowledge, skill,
goods, seeds, poultry or livestock - are passed on or spread to other vulnerable people.
The support to a typical beneficiary in Uganda
Either:
Integrated climate change and livelihoods inputs that can be summarised as:
a. Training in climate change smart improved agricultural, animal husbandry and allied
approaches
b. Seeds, inputs and tools (high yield, early maturing, high value crops etc.)
c. Improved goat (with passing on of the first kid only), fodder seed and animal husbandry
and zero grazing training
d. Community apiaries and tree nurseries with associated product development training. On
average a beneficiary would receive 100 varied tree seedlings.
e. Training in production of a fuel efficient stove and biomass briquette production and
communal access to briquette making technologies.
Or:
On the job training through an apprenticeship programme including inputs and an asset kit to facilitate
self-employment or employment after graduation.
6 Ensuring good linkages to organisations with market price and other related information and service providers with specialist technical know-
how.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 8
The 7 Steps to Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods
The clear steps indicated in the table below, do not necessarily occur one after another, but are distinct
steps in priority order.
Step 1 Sensitisation, Selection & Identification
Step 2 Developing CBO’s with Strong Leaders & Good Linkages
Step 3 Livelihood and Enterprise Selection
Step 4 Beneficiary Technical and Business Skills Capacity Building
Step 5 Developing a Savings, Loans and Investment Culture
Step 6 Set up Apprenticeships
Step 7 Set up a Basket of Livelihoods Interventions
Step 1: Sensitisation, Selection and Identification
1.1 Community Selection
Description of key features
Not all agencies have the resources or capacity to run sustainable livelihood programmes across wide
geographical areas, so inevitably communities will need to be prioritised for involvement in the
programme.
Participatory community mapping can be a useful starting point to begin discussions around
vulnerability, which can then be overlaid with livelihood zone mapping and disaster risk mapping
exercises. Good research and staff knowledge building at this stage will pay dividends in ensuring the
support goes to the most vulnerable and meets their specific needs. Establish clear vulnerability criteria
for community selection in consultation with government, traditional and religious leaders as well as
other NGOs involved across the affected area.
Good practice to follow
Encourage consultation with government officers from across different sectors.
Start in a small number of varied ‘pilot’ locations to trial the approach and then roll out in stages.
Display selected community or village lists widely alongside the criteria used for community selection
and gather feedback.
Things to avoid
Don’t avoid the most challenging villages or communities, but consider starting there in the second
round of villages.
Don’t take on all the responsibility for village selection, involve government officers, religious and
district level leaders.
Don’t spread your involvement too thinly, but balance this with meeting the greatest need. It is
important that the communities you are working with are not too scattered and impractical to access.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 9
You may need to encourage other stakeholders to operate in some areas where you have identified
great need, but which are beyond the reach of your programme.
1.2 Initial Community Sensitisation, Consultations and Leader Identification
The main aims of the initial community meeting(s) are to ensure the whole community are well informed
about the programmes objectives. It is also key to make sure that the whole community understands the
vulnerability objectives of the programme, so that they know why some of the relatively better off are not
direct beneficiaries. The meetings are key to helping you to better find out about the types of
vulnerability and wealth groups in the community. Solid research with the community to examine wealth
categories, marginal and vulnerability groups in the locality will inform vulnerability criteria selection.
Participatory community research of the existing and multiple livelihood strategies within households
(and how they differ between households with specific vulnerabilities) and the locations where certain
livelihoods predominate will help ensure your programme is designed to fit individual vulnerable
household needs. Participatory mapping with the community of areas most affected by the crisis and
disaster risk mapping and wealth categorisation tools can be useful to help guide this. These need not
be time consuming7 and will be worth their weight in gold in terms of ensuring all the community are on
board with your approach and that your project fits their needs.
Good practice to follow
Participatory community mapping
If a trusted CBO already exists; ‘Use it or improve it’ in preference to establishing a new one.
Set minimum target levels for women’s and other vulnerable groups representation on committees,
and explain the reasons why.
Set up good communication channels and feedback procedures. If complaints have nowhere to go,
they often backfire unexpectedly!
Things to avoid
Often community leaders are not really representative of their communities. They can sometimes be
from the wealthy, well-educated elites and might not understand the needs of the poorest. So always
try to cross check what they say with the people from the more vulnerable groups. Remember,
sometimes community leaders are very proficient at capturing the benefits of programmes. Be clear
from the very start that the aim of the programme is ‘poverty alleviation with sustainable livelihoods’
and that the local leaders won’t necessarily be the ones that gain from the programme.
1.3 Formulate Beneficiary Selection Criteria Emphasising Vulnerable Groups
Description of key features
If you or another agency have run successful programmes in the area previously, try and use the
same or slightly adapted criteria.
Some criteria are best left open (such as ‘high dependency to breadwinner ratio’) and some clear
specific groups (like disabled, widowed, elderly etc) help to guide the community in their selection.
You may choose to be more selective within the general vulnerability groupings. So for example
7 You might choose to do a few communities in detail and then do more rapid versions in other communities to just identify how things differ
there.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 10
‘youths under 25’ would become; ‘unemployed youths under 25’ or ‘youths prone to alcoholism or
drugs’ or ‘underage mothers’ or ‘lone young women under 25’ etc.
Some definitions for vulnerability criteria may differ from country to country and between partners
and donors. ‘Youth’ for example, is defined as 18-35 in Uganda. Establishing a joint definition before
the programme will ensure all partners and donors requirements are met.
Identify key vulnerability groups and set realistic minimum target rates for inclusion in the
programme, given local prevalence rates and a realistic evaluation of the number of those able to
run businesses and livelihoods or small income generation initiatives. Never underestimate what
vulnerable people can achieve. Even the most elderly frail old person can gain hugely
(psychologically as well as income) from a small enterprise like poultry keeping.
Consider setting ‘anti duplication’ criteria to avoid duplication with other agency programmes.
Consider a restriction on the number of beneficiaries per household but take care not to
disadvantage very large extended households who may belong to certain ethnic groups. You may
choose to consider such households as separate families. Also be careful not to exclude the
enterprises run by women by restricting to one application per household.
Make sure vulnerable beneficiaries are aware that they can benefit through family representatives or
trusted nominees. Local health staff may help let chronically sick or people with HIV/AIDs know
about the programme for you.
Display selected beneficiary lists alongside criteria for selection in local languages and have them
read out by leaders. Implement a feedback or appeals procedure to collect any suggestions or
complaints.
Good practice to follow:
Promote community harmony through inclusion of the marginalised: Including marginal,
excluded and minorities into groups promotes communication and understanding that can strengthen
post conflict societies ability to heal and reconcile differences.
Local prevalence rates for HIV/AIDs and disability may well be substantially higher in post-conflict
areas than nationally, and that there may be much higher proportions of women to men for similar
reasons as well as due to migration of men to urban centres. This will mean you may need to set
much higher rates of inclusion of the vulnerable than you might originally think.
Examples of specific vulnerable groups to consider for project inclusion:
Children of a specific age, orphans or child headed households
Vulnerable youths: You may choose to be more specific here; unemployed or disaffected youths,
youths at risk of alcoholism/drug addiction, young or underage mothers, etc.
Female headed households: single or unmarried mothers; divorced or abandoned women; women
with absent husbands; widows; prostitutes etc.
Elderly people
People with disabilities
Carers (of orphan’s elderly or chronically sick people)
Chronically sick people or people living with HIV/AIDS
Specific livelihood types that may have been particularly affected by the conflict or disaster such as
pastoralists or fishing households etc. Carers (of orphans, elderly or chronically sick people)
Chronically sick people or people living with HIV/AIDS
Specific livelihood types that may have been particularly affected by the conflict or disaster such as
pastoralists or fishing households etc. Carers (of orphans, elderly or chronically sick people)
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 11
Case Study - Tackling Assumptions About Families Living With HIV/Aids
Since leaving the IDP camp, Betty Kdega (24) and her husband had been living a hard life with their two young
children and her sister’s two young children on a small farm just outside the small town of Kilak in Northern
Uganda. VEDCO and Heifer came to her and suggested the family join a local group they were supporting to
rebuild their livelihoods. At first her husband was against it, but she eventually decided to go. At first the group
members were not very friendly towards her, but once they got to know her, things got better quickly.
Since then, her family has hardly looked back. First they were given training on improved agricultural practices and
animal husbandry as well as child feeding and hygiene and sanitation amongst other things. Then they were lucky
enough to be selected as the household to demonstrate the new rain water harvesting barrels which has helped to
keep her family fit and healthy by supplying them with fresh clean water. She also built a better latrine and made
sure the children wash their hands after using it. Next came the new higher yielding seeds that she and her
husband planted and got an excellent crop, which meant she could feed the children twice every day, all year
round and left her some spare to sell to buy the essential medicines the family needs and put some away in the
groups savings scheme.
VEDCO and Heifer then asked her to build a goat shed in readiness for receiving a new improved goat variety.
When the day came to receive the goat, the children were so amazed…they had never seen such a huge goat
before. They help gather the new improved forage species that the family planted, and feed it to the goat which
gave birth to a healthy kid which VEDCO/Heifer asked her to ‘pass on the gift’ to her neighbour. Since then the
goat has had another big kid, which the family sold for a great profit and they used the money, alongside the
savings from the crops to buy an oxen to plough and increase the land area they could plant and hire out to others.
The money from the sale of this and the crops has allowed them to eat 2 or 3 meals a day all year round, buy their
medicines and build a big house with a metal roof and plenty of room for all the children.
When asked what message she would like to send to the boys and girl raising money for Comic Relief and APT in
the UK, Betty said:
“Tell them they have changed my life! Life in the camp was not easy, and we thought after we left we
would not be able to feed ourselves and stay healthy without the daily food distributions. This project has
answered my prayers and now we don’t have to depend on others. We can look after ourselves”. Learning
Involving marginalised groups and tackling assumptions about the capacities and capabilities of PLWHA.
Benefits of integrated food security, livelihoods and water, sanitation and hygiene approach for PLWHA.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 12
Step 2: Developing CBO’s with Strong Leaders
2.1 Selection and Capacity Building of CBO leaders
Description of key features
Although the formal training and leadership skills are a vital part of the approach adopted, a key element
should always be to ensure the trust of the community in their elected CBO leaders. Participatory
approaches should be used, not only to obtain community opinions and ideas, but also to promote
confidence in the leadership and ownership of the project through these committees.
Leaders should be elected only when a large proportion (say 70%) of the community take part in the
elections. Gender, ethnic group, age, disability and other factors should be taken into account in
selecting committee leaders to ensure the representation of a range of people from the community. In
addition CBO leaders (and beneficiaries) should understand that leaders will not necessarily be
beneficiaries of the programme as the programme is to help the most vulnerable. They should also be
aware that leaders should stand for re-election regularly, and can be called to do so should problems
arise. It is helpful to make sure that communities understand that it takes a lot of time to become a good
community leader and therefore they should try not to change leaders too often or without good reason.
It is never too early to indicate to the community and the CBO that the programme staff and assistance
will not be present forever and that to gain benefits in the long term, the leaders backed by community
members will need to go on to take over the supporting, guidance and market and stakeholder
networking tasks of the programme staff in the long term.
Try to find out if there are tried and tested CBO leader training courses already available in country, or if
other NGOs specialise in this area, rather than developing your own. CBOs should be linked with
government and other relevant agencies to maximise their involvement in alternative programmes such
as government service provision and trade fairs to increase market opportunities and to increase
sustainability on exit.
CBO leaders in Uganda were trained in:
Module 1: CBO/Group formation
Module 2: CBO/Group management
Module 3: Effective Group leadership
Module 4: Being a good treasurer and book keeping
Module 5: Qualities of a good leader
Module 6: Developing group vision, mission ,goals and objectives
Module 7: How to handle group meetings
Module 8: Conflict resolution
Module 9: Group problem solving
Module 10: Community based monitoring and evaluation
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 13
2.1 Supporting Cooperative Organisation with better links to duty bearers
Eventually the aim should be to link CBO leaders to existing cooperative organisations or to bring group leaders together at district or regional level to form strong cooperative organisations. These organisations will become key to ensuring:
Farmers can access economies of scale (purchasing, transportation, storage and selling)
Better information - Cooperative organisations become the link to assist farmers to access;
better market and production information (from market prices to early warning weather forecasts
to improved seed and stock varieties etc.) and links to duty bearers and other service providers.
When farmers start to produce commercially, they increasingly begin to need to access more
technical information related to things such as agricultural and livestock pests and diseases.
Without linkages to such service providers, their hard won gains may be lost.
Better market information, transport and storage facilities and connections – vitally
important when farmers start to reach commercial levels of production, or their crops may be left
to rot by the roadside.
Good practice to follow Building a CBO that is open to all of the community, not just those in receipt of grants, so that
more people gain from the improved practice training courses and business advice services
available, and the CBO contributes to re-building community relations rather than increasing
divisions.
Ensure leaders understand the importance of transparency and the beneficiaries understand
their right of access to information.
Explain leadership roles clearly & their roles beyond the end of project.
Build8 a CBO constitution in a participatory manner that leaders and members can sign up to.
Work with established and traditional leaders, though these need not necessarily be chosen to
lead the CBO. In the community meetings that you hold, observe who are the other consensus
builders and opinion formers in the community, and try to encourage these people to stand for
election, from a wide diversity of target group types and interest groups.
In protracted post conflict and crisis settings, the literacy and numeracy skills of leaders may
need to be developed if they are to become effective leaders and influence decision making. Pay
special attention to the selection of treasurers as they are likely to need good numeracy.
Monitor the understanding gained from the leadership training and follow up where weaknesses
become evident. Check that leaders are running meetings in an inclusive manner and have the skills
to ensure the voices of the most vulnerable are heard.
Ensure all CBOs open a secure bank account, preferably with a micro-finance institution that also
has a social and enterprise training and development agenda. Remind leaders of the importance of
displaying financial records and particularly handing out the joint bank book occasionally to re-assure
beneficiaries.
Begin to introduce the concept of district or regional cooperative organisations once your
community organisations are well established, and you know who the trusted leaders are who will
form the backbone of your cooperatives.
Early exit planning at this set-up stage. Be clear with CBO leaders and the community about the
poverty alleviation and targeting ethos of the programme and also about the long term business
advice, guidance, marketing and stakeholder linking role to be performed by the CBO. Ensure they
understand their role on programme closure.
8 Ask other NGOs if they have good examples that are tried and tested that will help you build one in a participatory manner.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 14
Make it an expectation that for every gain received by a beneficiary from the project there should be
a responsibility to ensure another person gains. This will build positive community relations and
ensure project inputs, skills and knowledge are disseminated widely.
Things to avoid Try and avoid selection of leaders that are all men or all women, or all from one linguistic,
ethnic or religious group.
Step 3: Livelihood Activity and Enterprise Selection
As a general principal it has been found that it is best to encourage livelihoods practices that people are already familiar with. In the case of protracted conflict and long term crises however, people may have been born since the crisis started and others have often completely lost traditional livelihood knowledge and skills. This means they may need to learn new livelihood practices or be retaught their traditional livelihood practices.
In addition, the economic environment may have strategically changed as a result of the conflict. An example of this is where proximity to lines of contact or international borders or unexploded ordinance9 limit access to productive or grazing lands.
Sometimes, vital irrigation waters become restricted by international disputes. In such post conflict
environments, this loss of access to water or land or grazing rights can cause a strategic change in the
economic environment, so that traditional livelihoods are no longer as economically viable as before and
agencies need to help post conflict communities identify these changes10 and adapt.
A post-conflict programme therefore needs to be developed with a three pronged approach that:
Researches and identifies where strategic changes in the productive environment have occurred
and develops alternatives where necessary
Supports and develops previous traditionally occurring livelihoods (such as livestock rearing,
agriculture and fishing etc.) and encourages their diversification.
Supports and develops existing and entirely new employment and enterprise opportunities to
increase resilience.
In Uganda a sustainable livelihoods approach with key distinct facets was developed:
1. Support to traditional livelihood strategies PLUS associated new enterprise development (e.g.
preservation or processing of food crops that are typically highly perishable or glut crops, into
value added products for sale, or opening a small kiosk to sell vegetables and other goods)
2. Support to those seeking new skills through apprenticeships and/or capacity building for either:
a. Employment in existing businesses, or
b. Self-employment through enterprise development
Assess which traditionally occurring livelihoods have been most affected by the crisis or climate change
and/or which livelihood groups are most vulnerable and why. Agencies tend to work with the
predominant livelihood group and sometimes forget marginal groups such as fishing or pastoralist
9 Or the fear of it.
10 Rapid cost benefit analysis can be useful here.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 15
communities. In many contexts, it may be better to view households as having numerous ‘livelihood
strategies’ (fishing, livestock & poultry rearing, farming, petty trade, charcoal making, wild gathering or
migration etc.) that they resort to either all year round or seasonally or sometimes in poor years or at
times of crisis.
It is important to support a broad range of livelihood strategies to complement the existing activities that
offer substantial resiliency gains as well as increasing the likelihood that the activities will fit the specific
needs of the broad range of vulnerable groups involved.
Programme staff should seek the advice of specialist NGOs to see what tried and tested livelihood
approaches have worked best with specific vulnerable groups (the elderly, youths, young mothers, child
and female headed households etc.).
Learning from Uganda:
The programme found that by offering a variety or ‘basket of options’ there was more likelihood
of meeting diverse differences amongst the capacities of different vulnerable groups.
Livestock - The programme found that by only offering a variety of livestock options11, it became more
able to meet the diverse needs of all of its differing vulnerability groups. Some households liked the fact
that the zero-grazed goats did not require shepherding and found them easy to manage, close to the
home. Others found they did not have adequate labour within the household to collect fodder and
preferred to continue with local goats that were improved through cross breeding . Some beneficiaries
felt that poultry rearing suited them better, as they had less physical capacity.
Agriculture – Some beneficiaries had insufficient physical capacity to clear, prepare and maintain
sufficient areas of land for the more extensive drought resistant high yielding subsistence seeds that
were distributed by the programme. Others preferred to concentrate on intensive small garden vegetable
and fruit plots of high value produce, close to the home that they were able to process or sell locally.
Developing entirely new and unfamiliar subsistence production and new enterprises is significantly more
challenging. The key is to wherever possible identify something reasonably familiar and within the skills
and capacity of the individual. Then try and upgrade this rather than attempt to import ideas that are not
known in the target community.
Good practice to follow: Send out clear messages that diversifying production and income sources is the key to
building resilience and mitigating risks. Integrate an element of assessing and adapting to the
increased risks of climate change from the start, as standard.
Be clear from the start that apprenticeships can be a route into employment or self-
employment. Those developing their own business ideas will need different and further support.
Take groups of apprentices to do basic market assessments in a few neighbouring and a distant
market, where they may be able to identify new enterprise ideas that might also work in their own
locality.
Undertake more detailed value chain analysis and back this with simple cost benefit analysis.
Make sure there is a wide diversity of enterprise types included in the apprenticeship and
capacity building programme to ensure that not too many newly qualified apprentices are seeking
opportunities in the same enterprise types.
11
(zero grazed improved, high value goats, a programme of less intensively reared cross breeding with local goats and small diverse improved
poultry options)
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 16
Things to avoid
Don’t avoid new businesses or livelihoods entirely, but do spend more time researching their market
potential, doing cost benefit analysis and guiding and supporting their entrepreneurs. Consider
finding them a more experienced mentor’ in the same type of livelihood or business.
Don’t necessarily avoid group businesses or livelihoods altogether but do be realistic about the
additional difficulties involved. You and they will need to spend more time on agreeing roles and
terms and expect to spend a great deal more time training in profit sharing between different levels
of skill types as well as guiding/supporting these group enterprises.
Try not to encourage too many people from the same communities into similar enterprises!
Step 4: Beneficiary Technical and Business Skills Capacity Building
As indicated earlier, there will need to be a two pronged approach with several capacity building facets:
1. Capacity building for traditional livelihood strategies which may include:
a. Increasing the technical capacity in the chosen traditionally occurring livelihood (e.g.
improved agricultural, fishing or livestock and poultry practices) due to the loss of skills during
prolonged conflict or crises.
b. PLUS increasing the technical capacity to undertake a new enterprise in field associated with
the traditional livelihood (e.g. training in preservation or processing of food crops that are
typically highly perishable or glut crops into value added products for sale, preparation and
sale of well butchered goat meat joints etc.)
c. PLUS increasing the skills to run new small business where these are considered necessary
(e.g. how to assess if a market exists, if an enterprise is profitable, how to keep good
business records etc.). Not all small businesses will require additional training of this nature
(e.g. opening a small kiosk to sell vegetables for example).
2. Capacity building for those seeking new skills for employment or self-employment which may
include a combination of:
a. Specific technical skills training courses
b. On-the-job training through apprenticeships, coaching or mentoring
c. Basic literacy and numeracy training
d. Enterprise development training for those aiming for self-employment:
i. How to identify an enterprise (cost benefit analysis etc.)
ii. How to start an enterprise (marketing etc.)
iii. How to run an enterprise (book keeping etc.)
It is important to assess the individual needs of beneficiaries. Some may be in livelihoods that do not
require the same level of technical skill capacity building or require business record keeping at all.
Some beneficiaries may benefit from access to basic literacy and numeracy training, but others may not.
Others may require it in order to access the other capacity or business training.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 17
Try to find out if there are existing tried and tested training already available in country, or if other NGOs
specialise in this area, rather than developing your own training. The Table in Annex 1 lists the individual
modules used in Uganda:
Good practice to follow
It may be worth looking at the training needs of specific vulnerable groups such as the
‘unemployed youth’ or ‘elderly’ for example.
Always consider integrating hygiene and sanitation activities in order to maximise the nutritional
benefits from improved food security and in order to reduce the high household expenditures for
healthcare.
Consider providing pre-printed profit and loss account records, at least to start with.
Consider allowing some illiterate people, such as the elderly to nominate trusted family members
to access training on their behalf if they wish to, though there are sustainability and potential fraud
issues that could arise.
Consider basic literacy and/or numeracy training, and the provision of calculators upon
graduation and try to identify local partners to deliver the training.
Things to avoid
Conducting training when specific groups cannot attend or at busy times of the day, year or seasonal
calendar.
Try not to run training all at once, for many consecutive days or weeks as this has a tendency to
exclude certain vulnerable groups like women or carers. Ask what works best for your beneficiaries.
The economic employment of disaffected youth, marginalised and other minority groups and
gender empowerment can reduce household and community conflict potential.
Step 5: Develop a Saving, Loans & Investment Culture
In post conflict settings, savings and loans should be a key feature of any programme, because of the
need to build up:
A savings base and re-establish the confidence and culture for investment in household and
livelihood and enterprise assets and inputs.
To provide a buffer in future poor years or after stresses and shocks.
In post conflict settings there is also usually an additional importance to build bridges in communities
rather than create potential divisions. Because of this, it is even more important than normal to try to
develop a ‘whole community approach’ to savings and loans whereby as many community members as
possible are, if not directly involved, at least aware of what is occurring in the community and why they
are not directly involved. If at all possible the aim should be to target all community members at least
indirectly. With this in mind, it is recommended that programmes introduce ‘whole communities’ to the
importance of savings, loans and investment in their existing livelihoods and new enterprise ideas.
It should be clearly outlined that savings, loans and investment in diverse livelihoods strategies are a
way of diversifying income sources and how this can then help households overcome shocks and adapt
to climate changes. The ‘better off households’ can be encouraged to save and be channelled towards
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 18
available banking or micro-finance institutions with social agendas if possible. Savings and Loans clubs
can be established as a means of providing access to financial services for those who are usually too
poor to access banks and MFIs.
Try to ensure that a more holistic approach is adopted. It is not simply about setting up stand-alone
savings and loans clubs, but also to include an element of ‘investment in improving and diversifying
livelihoods and enterprise’. What some organisations find is that many beneficiaries begin to save and
use the funds to recover in hard times or, as was found in Uganda, to use all the funds at Christmas. A
few beneficiaries go on to invest in their existing livelihoods. Even fewer diversify into new enterprise.
The key is to encourage saving for adding value within existing income generating activities and
diversification into new enterprises altogether in order to strengthen household production in the face of
shocks and climate change in particular.
Something frequently found, as in the Uganda programme, is that households acquire easily disposable
livelihood assets such as goats, pigs and poultry as a form of saving and as a safety net. E.g. in order to
pay the medical bill for a sick child, a chicken might be sold.
Description of key features
Introduce the importance of savings, loans and investment to the whole community.
Ensure the key message of ‘diversity for survival’ (diversity of production types and income sources
to overcome hard times and shocks) are widely understood.
Identify and assess the scale and suitability of the social, training and livelihoods and enterprise
development agendas of existing micro finance institutions (MFIs).
Identify those who have sufficient incomes and the capacity to link to the selected existing MFIs.
Identify those within the community who do not have the potential to work with existing MFIs and
work with them to form ‘Savings, loans and Investment clubs’ (SLICs). Concentrate on supporting
the needs of the most vulnerable households within the clubs.
Key learning; A community approach to savings, loans and investment
Introduce the importance of savings, loans and investment in existing or new enterprise at
community level, linking those who have the capacity, to work with existing MFIs12, but then go on
to work more closely with vulnerable groups who cannot yet access MFIs, to build savings, loans
and investment clubs.
Community ownership of the revolving loan funds greatly enhances the effectiveness of the
scheme.
Unlike micro-credit, communities tend to consider revolving loan funds as “their” property and so
are protective over its proper use.
Ensure that the savings and loans are backed up with enterprise development support. Linking
groups member access to provision of inputs and loans to successful completion of business
training helps those inputs/funds be used more successfully.
12
Preferably those with a social or enterprise and livelihoods training agenda.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 19
Undertaking loan disbursement at the same time as undertaking training on project activities
encourages greater participation.
Step 6: Set up Apprenticeships
Setting up apprenticeships involves making links between local youths and local business persons and
service providers. Apprentices receive on the job training and some other additional training alongside
livelihood asset ‘kits’ upon successful graduation. Most apprentices go on to be employed, but some
also set up their own businesses, sometimes in small groups.
Description of key features
Set clear inclusion targets13 for both participating trainers (business people) and apprentices.
Apprenticeships can be particularly suited to youths and can if appropriate be considered for
deliberate targeting of young men.
Key learning on Gender targeting from APT partner programmes globally:
The apprenticeships programmes have a significant long term potential peace and
reconciliation role and can be deliberately targeted to ex-combatants, disaffected
youths, and males prone to drugs and alcoholism.
The Uganda programme found that some of its women beneficiaries were too
overworked to successfully complete some of the activities, whereas their husbands
and grown up sons were doing relatively little production and could be targeted.
Not all project activities need to be targeted to higher proportions of women than men.
Programmes need to look carefully at the individual activities that are being undertaken
and ask whether there are good reasons to deliberately target one gender or another.
Some activities may touch upon or be involved with traditional male roles (land
clearance, draught technology etc). It is important to look at whether males might be
further14 disenfranchised’ from production if the programme encourages women to
assume these roles, particularly where men are already showing signs of underactivity
in production. In some cases, it might be better to target men and those women who
are in households without access to male labour (FHH). Projects need to be wary of
further overburdening women.
Select apprentices and identify any technical, business or numeracy or literacy training needs.
Introduce the concept that some apprentices may go on to be employed and others may choose to
begin their own enterprises and become self-employed. Ensure the programme has a specific
approach and follow-on enterprise training which may include more significant livelihood grants
(assets and inputs) for those who end up going into self-employment.
Undertake basic local and regional market assessments to help apprentices identify the types of
businesses and enterprises they wish to be involved with. Assess the value chains and cost benefit
analysis of the business ideas that the apprentices propose.
Ensure apprentices do not all select similar employment or enterprise ideas for competition reasons.
13
Disabled, gender, PLWHA etc. 14
After years of ‘inactivity’ in IDP camps for example.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 20
Introduce the idea of starting group enterprises and explain in detail the key pitfalls of group working.
Select apprenticeship providers15 or ‘trainers’, identify any training needs16, set a specific time period
and sign an MOU with apprentices, trainers and the CBO.
Remember that any skills training a trainer receives is likely to increase the quality of training they
offer to apprentices. Consider offering quality technical skills advancement training for trainers after
they have completed the training of a set number of apprentices as a reward.
Consider a nominal fee to cover any costs business operators/trainers may have to incur (training
drivers requires some fuel, tailors some material and thread etc.).
Follow up and monitor apprentices carefully. Check for low pay, poor conditions and protection
issues.
On successful graduation, take care to ensure that apprentices and their trainers are closely involved
in the selection of the assets and inputs in the ‘graduation kits’ (see ‘Improve kit management’
learning from Uganda, in learning box below).
Learning from programmes elsewhere on ensuring large assets are well used:
APT’s partner project with BCG in Sri Lanka17 developed an approach called the “Use to Own
Programme” (UTOP) ensuring appropriate use of large donated assets. There is a “Practical How to
Guide in 8 steps to implementing a Use to Own Programme for sustainable Livelihoods” available
from APT.
Progress of the apprentices and livelihood beneficiary enterprises are closely monitored by the CBO
and project staff, whilst beneficiaries make regular instalments into a CBO savings account. If, after
six months, the items purchased are considered to have been ‘used well’, then the beneficiary is
allowed to keep the assets or inputs and have access to their savings.
BUT, if the assets or inputs purchased have not been used productively, then the savings are kept
by the CBO and the inputs are not given to the beneficiary but rather purchased by the beneficiary
having paid regular instalments in the form of savings with the CBO.
Good practice to follow Try to get in touch with other agencies that have run apprenticeships programmes and learn
from their approach and mistakes, before you get going.
Ensure that you train more apprentices than your final target, as it is inevitable that some
trainees will drop out for various legitimate and other reasons. E.g. there was a 10% drop out rate in
Uganda mostly from maternity, deaths and people leaving the area etc.
Consider asking specific vulnerable groups such as young mothers or carers of the chronically
sick, whether they may prefer on-the-job training for half days in order to complete domestic and
caring duties. Involve apprentices in the selection of the best times of day for formal training courses.
Consider a rapid risk assessment around protection and health and safety issues.
Be clear about the commitment involved by both parties and make clear agreements and MoUs.
15
Local artisans and business operators. 16
Sensitisation on protection issues and training on How to be a good trainer, how to run a good business or specific training skills etc. 17
With the NGO Business Creations Group (BCG)
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 21
Things to avoid Avoid considering thee apprenticeship as an ‘end in itself’. The full transition self-employment will
require such factors as business training and start-up costs and resources alongside long term
mentoring and support.
Child labour and putting young people and young girls in particular in vulnerable positions with
people of influence and power.
Low pay and poor health and safety conditions.
Learning from Uganda:
Ensure Initial Enterprise identification - New enterprise ideas through market assessments Spend more time on identifying more diverse and varied types of new enterprise or existing business ideas initially.
Ensure close involvement of potential apprentices and consider undertaking local and nearby market assessments in order to identify enterprise opportunities. Improve Inclusion and Appropriateness - Try to identify a wide variety of different apprenticeships types, including some that particularly suit the young, women, or PWD and PLWHA. Encourage business people with disabilities to become trainers, and set and monitor challenging rates of inclusion of vulnerable groups. .
Develop an integrated and long term enterprise development approach to Apprentices Ensure apprentices are encouraged into groups for support and included in savings and other capacity building aspects of the programme. Link the apprentices likely to go on to self-employment into a livelihood grant and enterprise development training in order to help fund some of the inevitable start-up costs that might otherwise block entry into that trade.
Ensure appropriate kit selection and management - Ensure close involvement of apprentices and trainers in identifying the content of apprentice kits, especially for specialist items and large assets. Apprentices may for example, prefer to buy a second-hand treadle sewing machine and spend more on materials/threads etc. Improve the monitoring of kits. Consider whether a large asset could be either contributed or consider cash for specialist items and materials. Ensure monitoring and follow up of apprentices and their kits.
Invest in trainers - Pre training for trainers in ‘how to be a good trainer’ and good business/finance and ensure protection issues are raised and monitored for. Trainers do face varying and legitimate costs in order to supply the raw materials that apprentices will use. Encourage a dialogue with trusted trainers and budget appropriately for these costs. Consider rewards for the efforts and long term commitment of those trainers who are training multiple apprentices through accessing quality skills development training for the trainers. Aim in future phases not to miss the opportunity to invest in the skills of the apprentices through investing in their trainers (finance and business skills as well as skills specific to their enterprise).
Set targets based on those who graduate, rather than numbers starting training. Always take on more trainees than targeted to account for inevitable drop-outs. Monitor for drop outs (and disaggregate by gender and vulnerability group) to ensure there is no systematic reason for their withdrawal (e.g. timing of training doesn’t suit women’s domestic responsibilities etc.).
Step 7: Set up a Basket of Livelihoods Interventions
7.1 Multiple Livelihood Strategies
There are likely to be restrictions on livelihoods development in rural areas after protracted conflict, and
these are most commonly:
Loss of agricultural skills, knowledge and practices.
Loss of tools, equipment inputs and assets.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 22
Loss of access to land either through disputed land rights or more commonly because the land
has become overgrown or inaccessible due to insecurity or unexploded ordinance.
Loss of access to key male able bodied labour.
In Uganda, the programme concentrated on agriculture and livestock as these livelihoods had been
severely affected after years of conflict. Elsewhere, you are likely to need to look at the multiple
livelihood strategies that different vulnerable groups employ and how these change seasonally and have
been affected by the crisis, as well as how they are likely to be affected by future challenges, such as
climate change, before selecting which livelihoods to concentrate on.
Key learning: Ensuring that climate change and disaster risk reduction are integrated into your
programme from the start, and this should go on to contribute to the long term sustainability of the
programme.
It doesn’t have to take long to ask communities which are the most commonly occurring risks and
threats to their livelihoods. In most places there isn’t a great deal of variability across districts, but it is
important to remember household level diversity; that whilst one household may suffer from drought,
another may be more at risk of drought, for example.
A way of working is to offer a ‘basket’ of different intervention types so that vulnerable households can
select what suits them best. The key is to not spread your staff resources too thinly, or get involved in
project activities that are too far outside of you or your partners’ specialist skill sets, whilst maintaining
choice for beneficiaries. E.g. you could consider partnering with other local agencies with complimentary
skill sets in order to offer this varied basket’ of activities and expertise.
Some of the learning identified by the Uganda climate change adaptation and livelihoods programme is
outlined below.
Case Study Showing the value of a ‘basket of livelihood options’
; A Chronically Sick Widows family and her Orphans
Aciro chest illness and is Mutooywe is 47 has a now supporting her 5 children and 2 orphans all by
herself after her husband’s death in 2010. She was selected to benefit as a carer of young people.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 23
For her, the livestock approach has been more suited to her situation than the agriculture, as she
doesn’t really have the strength to plant and maintain all the seeds. She lost a lot of her crop due to the
drought, but the goat she can take care of easily near the home while she is minding the children and
doing the cooking because it is kept in its shed, which also keeps it from getting so many diseases and
ticks. Sometimes she can go off and work for a few days and leave the goat with lots of food and water
and it is still ok when she gets back. She also feels the goat raised her respect in the village, where
people used to intimidate her a bit since her husband died. She has decided not to sell any of her goats
if she can help it, as she wants to get a big herd, but hopes that with this year’s better rainfall she will be
able to feed the family all year round, with a little to spare for her medicine bills. At least the fuel efficient
stove has meant she is no longer spending so much time and money collecting firewood, and the low
smoke means her chest isn’t aggravated when she cooks. She doesn’t really have the time and strength
to collect and make the briquettes.
Pertinent points:
Many of the older people on the project are selected in order to assist their vulnerable children and orphans.
Having a broad range of project options ensures that there are suitable options available to suit wide
ranging household and vulnerability types.
Suitability of zero grazed livestock for some low labour households
The limited appropriateness of extensive agriculture for some physically less able and low labour
households.
Health, timesaving and income benefits of FES.
Broad Ranging Agricultural Interventions
Participatory community meetings will help you identify the principle restrictions and risks facing
agriculture. The Uganda programme concentrated upon:
Identifying and referring land disputes to a specialist NGO (see Uganda learning box below).
Encouraging vulnerable people to ‘speak out’18 and linking communities with agriculture and
other service providers and influence decision makers at all levels.
Promotion and capacity building in improved agricultural practices. Beneficiaries accessed
training courses, demonstrations and long term back up alongside key tools, inputs and
improved higher yielding, early maturing and drought tolerant varieties. In future phases, the
programme hopes to include more flood tolerant varieties. Climate change adaptation strategies
included community tree nurseries that were hugely successful in providing alternative income
sources, as well as promoting environmental sustainability.
Promotion of diversity of production to combat risks – encouraging farmers to stagger planting of
a broad range of crop types that should help to ensure something survives after severe events.
Backed by advice on what to grow to get high value crops quickly after crises (vegetables),
alongside.
Reduction in crop losses through better post-harvest handling; transport, storage, preservation
etc.
18
This involved sensitisation of communities and leaders as well as awareness raising around gender, disabilities and HIV/AIDS.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 24
Encouraging diversity of incomes through enterprise development in associated agricultural
products (such as processing and preservation or glut products) as well as new enterprises like
bee keeping, poultry rearing or petty trade etc.
Maximising gains to the producer through a combination of improving product quality, adding
value to products through processing and improving the price gained at the market. This market
aspect includes encouraging farmers not just to sell to the first person to knock on their door, but
working together within their CBOs, selling cooperatively and to reach out to markets more
directly, often cutting out the middle man. CBOs can gain skills about how to get better informed
about regional prices and price trends and how to maximise gains.
Encouraging beneficiaries to invest savings in diversifying production and new enterprise.
Key Learning from Uganda - Address Post Conflict Access to land issues early:
The Uganda programme concentrated upon identifying and referring land disputes to a specialist NGO
which worked very well and allowed them to concentrate on the core specialism of their agencies
(agriculture and livestock).
Many of the programme’s beneficiaries were able to literally ‘plough’ the profits from the increased food
production created by the project into purchasing or hiring oxen and ploughs to help them clear and
open up more land.
The more vulnerable households, and those without access to able bodied male labour may need to be
supported through the development of an appropriate alternative such as a community equipment hiring
strategy.
7.2 Broad Ranging Livestock and Poultry Interventions
Description of key features
The Uganda livestock programme involved the introduction of improved goat species in a ‘passing on
the gift’ methodology whereby first born kids are passed to the next beneficiary. Goat distribution was
alongside improved fodder species seed distribution and the introduction of self-built small raised goat
shelters to enable zero-grazed goat management.
The project had to overcome some complex challenges related to early mortality and slow take-up of the
‘passing on the gift’ idea and the related learning is outlined in this section, to inform any future
programmes.
A key aspect of programme learning was to ensure that vulnerable households and households with
limited access to able bodied labour in particular, can select from a choice of livestock and poultry
intervention types. This allows them to fit the intervention to their individual or household limitations and
needs. The range of options was broadened to include poultry (chickens, ducks, turkeys, doves etc.)
and other possible options were examined (bees, rabbits, crickets etc.) so that households can select
what will suit their specific priorities and constraints. Some households prefer production close to the
home, some need low physical strength requirements, and others need a high value product with low
labour intervention.
Key learning: Selecting a ‘one size fits all’ intervention type is unlikely to meet the needs of diverse
beneficiary types.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 25
A further learning point was related to finding ways to integrate the improved exotic goat varieties
methodology with a strategy aimed at improving the breed of the local goat population, through a
combination of:
Improved breed goats for the most vulnerable households19, largely using zero grazing.
Local nanny goats that cost relatively little (tenth of the cost of an improved goat) to be given to other
households alongside improved billy goats to the most vulnerable households to breed with the local
nanny goats and begin to improve the breed.
To avoid breeding with local males, the animals began to be managed semi-intensively using a
paddock system (disease reduction benefits here too) alongside a programme of castration of local
billy goats. The improved breeding bucks are regularly exchanged to avoid in- breeding.
Good practice to follow
Adapting approach to suit most vulnerable - Diversifying to a basket of interventions (Boar goats,
local goats, milking goats for nutritionally vulnerable such as PLWHA, chickens, ducks, doves and
bees etc. for the less physically able elderly and PWD) to help ensure the approach selected better
suits individual HH needs and capacities. Considering exempting some of the most vulnerable
households from the self-building of sheds and/or postponement20 or exemption from passing on the
first kid. These households could be selected by staff in close consultation with communities.
Reducing Goat Mortality & Improving Animal Husbandry - Treatment of all original goats prior to
distribution combined with the training of community animal husbandry service providers (CAHSP).
Integrate with improved fodder/forage species and knowledge (crops, shrubs and trees and
treatment processes)
Reduce conflict with agriculture and reduce impact of livestock on apiaries and tree seedlings
through fencing and live hedging particularly in post conflict areas where tensions may already be
high.
Learning:
Introduction to new techniques, technologies and ideas requires more extensive sensitisation. In
these circumstances a staged roll out may be more efficient, so that when initial beneficiaries have
accepted the new approaches, they then become the demonstrators of the successful approach to
neighbours and neighbouring communities.
Key learning: Wherever possible improve existing resources rather than introducing entirely new
technologies, unless already proven effective and cost efficient.
19
some of these boar goats will be bought while some will be from POGs from the current beneficiaries. 20
Some evidence that this has occurred on at least one occasion.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 26
Case Study: Diverse income generation strategies; A HIV child cared for by grandparents
Achan Florence is 50. She and her husband were selected as they care for eight grandchildren,
including at least one who is chronically sick with HIV/AIDS. She has been a part of the goat and
agriculture livelihoods development project and the climate change trainings and fuel efficient stoves
and briquettes part of the project which also helped her to grow and plant 70 different fruit, fodder and
timber trees that are now starting to earn her quite a bit of money.
She has been delighted by the project, which has allowed her to make enough money to buy three more
local goats to breed with the Boar goat and a hen to give eggs to the poorly child. The trainings have
also helped her to start a small business buying and selling other peoples crops with her own bigger
harvest, which helps her to pay for the medical bills and medicines and some much needed household
goods like a, mattress, some sheets and a radio so she can get the weather forecast and hear about
more new ways to make money! She knows that the more different types of ways of money making she
has, the less she will be affected when droughts and floods come along. She is paying for all the
children to attend good schools (private catholic school is nearby) and has now managed to clear all the
households debts and is saving money for future bad times with the groups savings scheme.
Pertinent points:
Many of the older people on the project are selected in order to assist their vulnerable children,
grandchildren and orphans.
Integrated business development, agriculture, livestock, capacity building, hygiene and sanitation
and climate change approach paying huge dividends and reducing dependence.
The importance of diversifying livelihood strategies and promoting new income generation
strategies for resilience and climate change adaptation.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 27
Integrating Climate Change Interventions
This section should be read in conjunction with Annexe 1on page 30 which is an excerpt of the final project evaluation conducted in May 2014. This provides an excellent commentary and consideration of the climate change interventions that formed part of the project in northern Uganda. Also, many of the interventions discussed in this guide are relevant to climate change adaptation but have not been included specifically in this climate change section.
Climate change proofing tool At Annexe 2 is a simplified climate change proofing tool that can be used as a practical guide for
integrating climate change adaptation into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of your
development projects.
The learning from the Uganda programme was that with just a little forethought, research and initial
planning, it is relatively easy to integrate climate change adaptation strategies into an agriculture and
livestock programme.
Description of key features
The key is to do initial rapid participatory assessments with knowledgeable stakeholders and
communities to establish what are the prevalent climate change risks (you could consider major disaster
risks as well) in your area of operation. Remember that different households will not always face the
same risks. Some may be more at risk of flood than drought for example. This is why it is important to
have a range or a ‘basket’ of different climate change adaptation interventions for households to choose
from.
The Uganda programme included:
Rain water harvesting demonstration sites
Community Tree and Vegetable Seedling Nurseries and tree planting programmes
(fodder, timber, fuel wood and fruit and nut species)
Community Apiaries and bee product enterprise development
Fuel efficient stove dissemination and biomass briquette production
Main Types of Training conducted under the Climate Change Project in Uganda
Leadership and group dynamics (for new groups only)
Post-harvest handling (6 M)
Sustainable agricultural practices (2M)
Fuel efficient stoves & briquettes
Gender
Apiary management
Tree nursery establishment and management
Climate change awareness
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 28
Good practice to follow
It helps if you can communicate simple clear messages, such as:
‘increase the variety of what you already produce’ - differing crops/animal types
‘increase the suitability of what you produce’ wind, hail, drought or flood tolerant and/or early
maturing varieties, planting to suit conditions. Livestock or poultry that can cope better in adverse
conditions.
‘increase the price you get for what you produce’ – higher value crops, that can mature quickly
after crops have flooded, reduce losses through better storage, processing and preservation. E.g.
get a better price at market through cooperative marketing techniques etc. Adding value to produce
through processing (fruits to jam, goats to well butchered meat or leather goods etc.)
‘increase the diversity of your income sources’ – developing new income sources from existing
production and branching out into new enterprise types that are less dependent on climatic
conditions (bee keeping, timber growing, fruit tree growing) and other enterprises (petty trade,
poultry rearing etc.)
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 29
‘Reduce your use of unsustainable resources’ – rain water harvesting, woodlots, fuel efficient
stoves, biomass briquettes etc. The Uganda programme is looking to develop a strategy that will
help tackle charcoal burners head on, possibly through improving the efficiency of charcoal
production reducing premature cutting of saplings or identifying alternative income sources for
charcoal burners.
Key learning messages: Resiliency in the face of Climate Change
‘Spread your risks’ by diversifying and mixing crops, mixing livestock types and using
nurseries and staggered planting to help ‘catch’ the best growing season.
‘Broaden your range of income generating strategies’ – try and find income generation
strategies that are not so weather dependent, and increase the range that your household is
involved with. With luck, even in bad years, one of your livelihood strategies will thrive! A
broad range of income generation strategies is the key to resilience and adaptation to climate
change.
Things to avoid:
If introducing better technologies, try to upgrade local technologies rather than importing
new unfamiliar ones. In general, upgraded local technologies have been found to have a
much greater take up than imported technologies which require people to be convinced that
they will work and are generally more costly.
Conclusion
This how to guide offers a road map to a tried and tested resilience building, integrated climate change
adaptation and sustainable livelihoods development approach for a post conflict setting based on the
analysis of the successes and challenges faced not only by the Uganda programme, but also from the
learning across APT programmes globally.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 30
Annexe 1. Findings from the Climate Change Programme
The project data indicates that the outcome indicators for those accessing the climate change activities
have been enormously surpassed:
Planned Number
of Households
Actual
achieved
Comment
New climate change
groups
200 HHs 306 HHs In ADDITION almost all the climate
change aspects were spread to
almost all the 526 livelihood
beneficiaries (418 Ag & LS and 108
most vulnerable HHs).
TOTAL Households = 832 HHs
When reviewing the budget for the individual activities it can be seen that in terms of impact in relation to
benefits to the households and the environment, the fuel efficient stoves and biomass briquettes,
alongside the new low technology rain water harvesting devices are the best value for money, with the
apiary projects being one of the more costly items alongside the documentary. Recommendations: Aim to reach equally high numbers of beneficiaries and indirect beneficiaries for future projects on climate change. Set higher target indicators for climate change aspects. Develop lower technology, locally made briquette moulds, apiary units and change the documentary approach to a communications approach that concentrates on simple pictorial posters, leaflets and alternative communication methods such as schools awareness programmes, slogan competitions (text messages), songs, drama and radio programmes etc.
It is important to point out, that not all of the aspects listed below strictly fall under the supplementary climate change funded aspect of the programme. However, the integrated nature of this project means that many of the agricultural practices that fall under the general livelihood project are also strongly related to climate change mitigation and adaptation. For the purposes of this evaluation, all relevant aspects have been included to ensure that when formulating the climate change model that VEDCO/HEIFER/APT wish to disseminate further to other APT partners and beyond, that the full approach has been evaluated.
The climate change programme has a wide variety of differing aspects. The findings are categorised below.
Climate Change Adaptation Agricultural Practices
A very wide range of new and improved agricultural practices have been widely adopted and well
understood, often above and beyond the techniques listed in the project materials (Contour and strip
farming across the slope to minimise soil erosion). Only a very small number of the listed activities have
not really been pursued or disseminated (e.g. irrigation). The key findings upon each technique
extended are summarised here:
Quick maturing crops - principally vegetables have been promoted and widely/keenly adopted making sufficient for HH consumption and some sales. The evaluation questionnaire indicates that average incomes of 150,250UGX(£36)/year are currently being earned from vegetable sales, though the current season has identified a small number of beneficiaries and one entire youth group who have now reached a commercial level of production (see photo below and case study in Annex 8.8).
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 31
Farmers groups reaching commercial levels of production. Some of these individuals will this year, if successful, be able to attain income levels from vegetable sales of between 1 – 2 million UGX(£238 - £476). There are some concerns that there could be gluts in production and wastage as a result. Specific short season staple varieties are not hugely in evidence. Recommendation: improving and expanding post-harvest processing (such as current solar driers) and preservation and value addition as well as linkages to markets in next phase.
Raising seeds in nurseries and sacks – this approach is beginning to show progress, allowing famers to concentrate fertilisers and watering on a small area and gain earlier crops to transplant when the rains finally come.
Sack Mound nurseries Earlier maturing of plants and higher success rates will allow farmers to gain the higher prices at market earlier in the season as well as to gain greater yields and maximise prices through having crops to market when prices are highest. Although a few farmers have taken this approach up, in general farmers did not fully understand the concept of staggered planting which has not been
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 32
widely adopted. It is likely to require more demonstration and linking to the sack mounds and small nursery beds. When the model farmers demonstrate the importance and value they have gained it is thought this will take off - be used widely. Recommendation: Increasing emphasis on understanding the reasons why all farmers should have small nursery beds/sacks to maximise early planting, concentrate watering and fertilising and gain early crops to access higher prices.
Mixed cropping and Inter cropping – this was a fairly widespread practice before, but some knowledge as to specific companion crops is still in its infancy. Recommendation: more emphasis in next phase through ‘model farmers approach’ on specific companion plantings for fertility and pest prevention purposes.
Intercropping.
Mulching – farmers are familiar with the technique and reasons for it, but it may take time before its adoption is widespread. Recommendation: demonstrate what happens on a bed that is covered by mulch/crop residues, alongside a plot that is not covered/protected when the first rains come with a watering can or hose pipe (all the fertile top soil washes away)
Organic manure – Employed by virtually all long standing livelihood programme members who have been involved in the livestock project and this has also been passed on to non-members. HHs without zero grazed goats practice this less. Farmers are convinced of the fertility and yield benefits and some report having saved expenditure on artificial fertilisers as a result of on average 51,250 UGX(£12)/year.
Organic pesticide – farmers have clearly been taught and some are producing but most say they do not need to produce. Recommendation: demonstrate companion planting (e.g. local versions of: carrots with onions or marigolds to deter carrot fly, etc.). Re-train farmers in organic pesticide and fungicide making. Ensure all those farmers who are now producing at a more commercial scale as to the extra importance of pesticides and fungicides. Train such farmers of the disease and pest risks of repeat planting in the same space season after season, and re-iterate the benefits of planting many different crops to reduce disease spread risks and losses.
Drought tolerant seeds – Extensively adopted and hugely appreciated by farmers. Average income from increased crop production as a result of drought tolerant seeds was measured at 700,000 UGX(£167)/year. Recommendation: to increase sustainability on exit, ensure all local seed
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 33
stockists, and small local shops are able to access good quality improved seeds. Ensure newly formed farmers cooperatives also stock these, further new varieties and are well linked to research stations.
Flood tolerant seeds - though some advice has been given, no specific improved tolerance varieties distributed. Recommendation for future: More identification of flood prone areas and dissemination of advice and flood tolerant varieties.
Weather forecasting and early warning - Most farmers have not gained any specific early warning or weather forecasting information from the project other than what they have heard on the radio. Recommendation: develop a strategy that gets simple, localised weather, pests, diseases and price information to farmers, through radio, texting and extension officers to group leaders.
Improved Storage and Post-Harvest Technologies
The project appears to have increased the awareness raising and training on improved storage
techniques and researched innovative but tried and tested simple improved post-harvest processing
techniques including demonstration of solar driers21.
Solar driers being spontaneously adopted.
The project has funded the building of 16 demonstration solar driers, and though only recently
implemented these are already showing signs of spontaneous adoption and income generation potential
(women drying vegetables and fruits for storage and later consumption or sale). However, loss of seed
and food crops is reported by beneficiaries who have not improved their storage to be at 40-50% losses.
Only a small number of farmers have taken up the improved seed storage advice, such as rat guards,
raised/tarpaulin drying etc. but such farmers report lower losses between 20-30%. Reducing losses
throughout the post-harvest process is essential. Losses and lack of income gained from highly
perishable glut products such as mangoes, tomatoes, peppers and egg plants are also reported to be
between 50- 90% (mango the higher figure). Recommendations: from a climate change perspective, it
21 Project staff gaining knowledge from international exchange visits with other partners. The project
manager (VEDCO) and the Heifer regional coordinator attended an experience sharing visit to APT’s partners,
Kilimanjaro Women’s Information Exchange Organization (KWIECO) and Kilimanjaro Natural Food Cooperative
(KNFC) where solar drying technology was transferred, in Tanzania in March 2014. They learned about women’s
empowerment and livelihoods development and the issues with establishing an effective marketing cooperative. The experiences and good practice of this project are to be shared with APT partners at a workshop in Kampala now scheduled for June 2014.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 34
is not advantageous to plant crops and lose 50% of the yield. Less land would need to be cultivated if
more could be saved. The next project phase should include better food storage elements and more
post-harvest processing, preservation, adding value into longer lasting products and improving
transportation and connections with local and distant markets. In future, the market element of this post
conflict project would be best targeted at the second phase when farmers have begun to produce
surpluses and are transitioning to the commercial production stage.
Rain Water Harvesting
The previous more high tech approach has now been replaced by a small scale plastic sheeting method.
The project has funded production of only 10 plastic sheet rainwater harvesting sites, and in some
places approximately 380 BFs are reported to have spontaneously adopted the approach. (Costs 6,000
UGX(£1.43), but saves significant water collection time and can save on water fees payment in the rainy
season). Beneficiaries report saving on average 842,00UGX(£200)/year on reduced water costs and
those who collect from swamps, rivers and poor water sources report cleaner water that is likely to
promote reduced incidence of water borne disease. It remains to be seen whether the plastic sheets will
last beyond one season to make them cost neutral, but they do save women and young girl’s time and
manual labour. Women have indicated that the water collected from the sheets is cleaner and tastier
and that they are gaining considerably during the rains from not having to walk to water points for 6
months of the year allowing time for productive tasks and school. It is also evident that one of the first
things that beneficiaries do when they begin to farm surpluses/commercially, is they purchase iron sheet
roofing, that then allows them to harvest rainwater from their metal roof. Recommendation: research
the adequate size of the sheets and whether women prefer the sheets to be located closer to the house
(or have longer tubes attached) so that they do not have to go out into the rain to keep changing the
water collection buckets. Ensure some safe water and hygiene advice is combined with the RWH
training and demonstration sites. Disseminate this technology to other NGOs and APT partners.
Alternative Income Strategies
Though this has not really been openly ‘taught’ as a climate adaptation strategy it has come about
principally as a result of the bee keeping and kitchen garden vegetables and through broadening the
diversity of crops grown. Very few BFs were found to have started alternative income generation outside
of agriculture. Beneficiaries that have started an alternative income have earned on average 350,183
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 35
UGX(£84)/year. One person had started a small shop. Only one person was found to be making
briquettes for sale, earning a monthly income of 80,000 UGX. The only factor limiting his increased
production is access to the moulds, when farmers think they could then go on to make up to
200,000UGX(£48)/month. Recommendation: ensure a clear message goes out to beneficiaries that
having alternative incomes outside of agriculture, that are not as dependent on the weather, is a vital
way of overcoming the bad times associated with changes in the climate and extreme and variable
weather patterns.
Increase training in this area. Develop a project ‘slogan’ or ‘mantra’ or song around this important
concept and communicate it by varied means (text, radio, drama, school competitions etc.) consider
implementing small alternative income generating approaches through value adding by processing
crops or small IGAs ideas that emanate from innovative farmers (edible rodent breeding, doves, turkeys,
ducks etc.). Distribution of more briquette making moulds or training local craftsmen to make and sell
them so that briquettes can be sold at scale. Disseminate this technology to other NGOs and APT
partners.
Quick Maturing Kitchen Garden Fruit and Vegetable Growing
Kitchen gardening alongside the new agricultural methods and seeds has been very successful,
particularly amongst women producers, with surplus from subsistence and cash incomes possible in
good years. This aspect of the programme has shown quick results, with considerable nutrition and food
security implications as well as some income generation. Recommendation: It is clear that some
groups and certain farmers are now meeting commercial scales of production and require a second
phase of project support and specialist advice (outlined in new strategy and way forward section).
Bee Keeping
Approximately half of the apiaries have now started to produce well. It is estimated that approximately
30 local apiaries have spontaneously started as a result. All these groups and individuals are on
average gaining annual incomes from honey production (alone) of 166,879UGX(£40)/year. This is a
considerable amount, and alongside the fact that most groups pay the profits straight into the savings
accounts, should go a long way to helping HHs cope in drought/flood times as well as invest in other
productive activities. A small number of apiaries will not make their first harvest until august 2014, and
are likely to need ongoing support. The producer groups are expectant of higher yields soon. Some
groups have experienced setbacks that have required re-siting, fencing, additional fodder species
planting or additional pest control measures, but now that the challenges have been overcome, most
sites are beginning to show profitability. There is evidence that neighbouring farmers are copying the
approach. Bee product training is just beginning as most of the groups are only now gaining sufficient
product, but good incomes are likely as a result or saving on expenditure on purchasing candles etc.
Bee product price Comment/remark
Perpetual candles – wax can
be re-used and only wicks
need replacement
40022 UGX per candle or
10,000 UGX/ kilo
The cost of making the
candle is 50UGX for the
wick, and the other
equipment is commonly
available in all homes.
Medicinal gum 4,000UGX/50mg pot
Body lotion 500UGX/pot
22
Shop bought candles (500UGX) burn very quickly and cannot be re-used.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 36
Other products: Furniture
and shoe polish, wax
crayons
TBC
Recommendation: adopt a deliberate strategy of training neighbouring villages with home-made hives
and POG beekeeping knowledge pyramid training, backed by simple resource materials.
Learning: climate change projects of this nature, and bee keeping projects in particular are likely to
require a longer time frame than 2 years to become well established. Training in improving honey and
other bee products can only really be successfully achieved AFTER groups have begun producing well.
Vegetable and Tree Seedling Nurseries and ‘sack mounds’
Average number of tree seedlings given = 131 (though ranged from 10-500)
Survival rate from small survey was 86% (project data - 75%)
The project set-up four community tree nurseries and 10 individual model or ‘demonstration’ nurseries run by individual farmers, as well as showing beneficiaries the benefits of small ‘sack mounds’ (soil filled sacks with holes for individual farmer seedling nurseries’. 16 sack mounds were demonstrated and now 160 have been spontaneously adopted.
At the 4 main nursery sites, there has been a switch to a nominal payment for seedlings and broadening to improved vegetable seedlings which is a positive sustainability move to ensure an income for the nursery workers on project closure. All these nurseries do now seem to have overcome initial challenges, look likely to be sustainable in the long term and are providing a vital focal point for demonstration of all the benefits of the projects new agricultural methods. Large scale orders are now commonly received at the nurseries for 2-3,000 saplings and orders are being met. It is reported that exceptionally poor and vulnerable people are still able to access seedlings for free. Survival rates of trees continue to rise, despite the drought in previous seasons. It remains too early to for any incomes from tree product sales to be realised though it is thought highly likely that fruit and timber sales will occur as well as nutritional benefits and savings to the family in terms of reduced expenditure on consumption, timber, fodder, fuel wood etc. A small number of farmers have planted large numbers of trees and intend to grow timber and fruits commercially. Fodder providing trees do not seem to have been disseminated as widely as they could have been and beneficiaries of goats in particular would benefit from receiving these varieties.
Recommendation: ensure beneficiaries are aware that they too can adopt small versions of what they
see at the larger demonstration sites or adopt the sacks as an alternative (located in shaded sites).
Ensure clear simple messages around seedling nurseries that allow early and staggered planting in
order to spread risks and capture the best of the season’s rains. Develop a slogan or mantra around
early and staggered planting as a way of accessing the high prices at the start of the season.
Disseminate the concept of ploughing and planting across the slope in flatter areas and agroforestry
strip farming in hillier locations. Agroforestry strips are permanent bands across the contour that reduce
erosion and top soil fertility loss, and should contain mixed species that include FODDER, fruit, timber
and fuel wood varieties of trees, shrubs and grasses. They are also useful sites for bee hives and bee
forage varieties.
Learning: climate change projects of this nature, and tree nurseries and planting in particular are likely
to require a longer time frame than 2 years to become well established and start producing incomes.
Such projects: may need training in marketing and adding value to the products (e.g. orange
marmalade, mango or guava chutney/juices, lemon cakes for sale at schools etc.); cannot really be
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 37
successfully achieved until AFTER groups have begun producing well. Such longer term climate change
aspects require income and impact evaluations well beyond the life of the project.
Conservation Technologies - Energy Efficient Stoves and Briquette Making
The evaluation was only able to find one stove (that had only just been made) without a chimney which
shows that the project has followed the evaluation recommendations to ensure health and safety. All
beneficiary households appeared to have both stoves and be making briquettes, the fuel efficient stove
technology (and not the biomass briquettes, because of too few moulds) had been spontaneously
adopted much more widely on this evaluation visit as staff had spread the concept to beneficiaries of
‘passing on the gift’ of any of the new ideas and knowledge gained from the project to their neighbours.
All BF households were reducing tree felling with fuel usage reduced by approximately two thirds which
will have had considerable impacts on tree felling and consequently climate change mitigation. Most HH
have also reduced time spent on collection by two thirds (3 trips per week down to one per week) saving
principally women and young girls considerable time for other productive and educational tasks. It
should be noted however, that as households increase productivity and incomes, that the number of
meals per day has been increasing from one to three, which has knock on impacts upon the number of
times that cooking occurs. The provision of the fuel efficient stoves and briquette technology is
particularly important that it occurs as early as possible in the recovery from this perspective, to ensure
that as incomes increase, tree felling does not accelerate. The fuel efficient stoves allow the pace of
increase in fuel wood consumption to be kept in check. Not all households collect their own fuel wood
from the bush. About one quarter of Households (mostly those closest to towns) usually purchase all or
most of theirs as fuel wood or charcoal. These household report having saved expenditure on fuel wood
and charcoal by on average 72,000 UGX(£17)/HH/month (864,000(£206)/year) as a result of the energy
efficient stoves and biomass briquettes. The only factor reported as limiting production of greater
amounts of briquettes (to enable sale of briquettes above HH consumption) is the small number of the
moulds for forming the bricks. There continues to appear to be no concerns related to shortages of crop
residues for use. However the groups would be well advised to ensure ashes are composted to ensure
as many minerals are returned to the soil as possible. Women are the principal fuel wood collectors and
have tended to shift from long trips over 2 days hunting for fire wood to the safer production of briquettes
for 2 days instead, and do not appear to be concerned about any additional burden on their time.
Recommendation: investigating whether households can make their own (trial polypipe method) or
whether local apprentices and metal/carpentry workshops can make both individual and multiple mould
frames (e.g. 20 at once) at less cost and become an income source. Advising on returning ashes to
ground or composting of ashes to ensure crop residue fertility is returned to soil.
Group Savings and Investment Clubs
Though not specifically a part of the climate change project,
savings are known to be an important resiliency adaptation
strategy during extreme weather events. All the climate change
members were found to be in savings clubs and on average
reported saving 489,000 UGX(£116)/HH in total. There was less
evidence that the investment in IGA side of the savings and
investment clubs had been strongly advocated for.
Recommendation: More stress on investment in alternative IGAs. Tracking of those individuals
dropping out of youth and savings groups, to be sure that it is not the most vulnerable with valid
additional difficulties that are dropping out. Ensure there is a strategy ready and in place to support
vulnerable people struggling to participate in groups.
A staggering 58% of the financial
gains from this project have been
allocated to savings and investment
in the future (Data from Sept 2013
evaluation).
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 38
Learning: Importance of savings and investment in alternative incomes (outside of agriculture) that are
less weather dependent to climate change adaptation and projects.
Training Courses on Climate Change
Just about all of the activities listed above, come about through a hugely extensive programme of detailed trainings. All 832 climate change beneficiaries have received trainings in all the project aspects as detailed in Annex 8.12. (Annex 8.11 contains a table listing all the modules involved in all the trainings delivered by the project). A summary table is given below of the main categories of training and the number of modules contained is provided as a guide to the length and depth of the trainings. Annex 7.9 also contains a list of seven TOT trainings conducted for the benefit of project staff23.
The table indicates that a great deal of training has
been invested in project beneficiaries, in order to
help to address the loss of skills caused by the long
period of conflict. Though the evaluation was not
able to assess the effectiveness of each of the
trainings it is evident that practices have been
updated and improved and this has certainly had
strong impacts in terms of sustainability. The
evaluator did do a rapid assessment of some of the
climate change training materials and modules. The
production and distribution of colourful posters are
evident in every project home and the survey results
show that most of the key messages of the project have been understood and many also acted upon.
Recommendations: Try to simplify the trainings to ensure that they cover and regularly repeat simple
clear messages. Be sure to have materials for trainees to take home that use pictures to demonstrate.
Employ innovative communications methods to increase recall and spread to others such as drama,
songs and slogans, poster competitions. Expand some key training to schools. Concentrate on core
trainings of practical applications and be more precise in selecting those persons who show leadership
potential as key people to train on influencing decision making.
Influencing Decision Making on Climate Change –
Interviews with local NGOs and district officials (the evaluation had insufficient time to cover regional or
national level government or private & NGO stakeholders) indicate that the Heifer/VEDCO project staff
have strong working relationships with them, and are at the forefront of lobbying for climate change
initiatives locally and further afield. The project has stimulated the formation of a local ‘climate change
forum’ made up of approximately 12 local NGOs (7 of them more active and meeting biannually), which
has tried to ensure government involvement through it being chaired by the government environmental
officer. The 4 key government officers that were interviewed by the evaluator showed very good levels of
knowledge and a remarkably high degree of enthusiasm for being involved in and pushing for others to
adopt climate change mitigation and adaptation methods. With the new national government “Climate
Change Unit’ in its infancy there does seem to be a considerable opportunity for the project and its local
climate change forum24 partners to help support the district officers to design a climate change strategy,
23
Gender, markets, business counselling, advocacy, business management, climate change adaptation and value chain development.
24 Annex 8.10.3 also contains a detailed strategy for the support and orientation of the Pader Climate Change forum, which has considerable
potential, and yet is not yet reaching that potential.
Main Types of Trainings conducted under
the Climate Change Project
Leadership and group dynamics (for new groups only)
Post-harvest handling (6 M)
Sustainable agricultural practices (2M)
Fuel efficient stoves & briquettes
Gender
Apiary management
Tree nursery establishment and management
Climate change awareness
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 39
implement and test the strategy and then use this to go to the national level unit as a model approach for
dissemination. Progress has been made through district bye laws and taxes on charcoal production, tree
cutting and animal roaming, which are all very positive measures showing some signs of success
through reduced charcoal production.
The project has also nominated a national level member of staff as a ‘climate change champion’ who
has been involved in lobbying at the national level and within the national Climate Change Action
Network (CAN – 150 members).
Recommendation: Consider inviting the Chief agricultural officer to chair or consider co-chairing the
forum along-side to help ensure actions are acted upon. APT could witness a forum meeting and
suggest trainings to improve meeting performance and climate change knowledge perhaps. APT and
project staff to do detailed presentation and field visit with key forum people.
Encourage the forum to meet every 3 to 4 months so that ideas are fresh in minds and ensure chair is
backed by support to ensure actions are acted upon. Work with the forum and local government officers
to design a local climate change strategy that district officials could use to influence the new national
climate change unit. Detail the strategy with advice to farmers such as; protection of certain valuable
species (shea), allowing immature trees to grow large before cutting and work with the existing
environment committees in communities. Increase involvement of local radio to disseminate messages
and other innovative methods (calendars with CC slogans etc).
Develop a strategy for brick burning enterprises to increase efficiency or find and encourage locals to
find alternative building approaches. Continue field visits of district officers to project successes and
invite media. Work with district on wetland management plans. Ensure individuals who go on foreign fact
finding missions report to other staff, forum and district on key findings. Extend climate change training
to schools.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 40
Annexe 2. Simplified Climate Change Proofing Tool Based on the “Toolkit for Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Projects” (2010)
produced by Care International with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
Contents Introduction
1. What do we mean by implementing climate change adaptation?
2. Climate sensitivity check
3. Key Concepts for Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Projects
4. Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Projects
4.1 Key issues to consider
4.2 Climate resilient livelihoods
4.3 Disaster risk reduction
4.4 Conflict and climate change resilience
4.5 Objectives and expected results
4.6 Documentation and dissemination of project approach results and
lessons
Introduction Climate change can work against or even reverse the effectiveness and sustainability of development
projects. Some interventions can unintentionally leave people even more vulnerable than before to
droughts and floods, changing rainfall patterns and other impacts of climate change.
BUT – well designed development activities can increase people’s resilience to these impacts.
This climate change proofing tool offers practical guidance for integrating climate change adaptation into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of your development projects.
1. What do we mean by implementing climate change adaptation?
Integrating climate change adaptation into projects is the process of identifying climate related risks
and adjusting project activities and approaches to reduce these risks. Integrating adaptation can also
help to ensure that project activities contribute to people and the community’s climate adaptive capacity
and do not increase their vulnerability to climate change.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 41
“Climate proofing” is minimising the likelihood of climate change undermining the effectiveness
and sustainability of development projects.
Climate proofing increases the sustainability of projects by:
Analysing risks that climate change poses to project activities, stakeholders and the project
results; then
Modifying the project design or implementation plans to reduce the risks.
By analysing people’s vulnerability to climate change and adjusting project
activities to maximise their contribution to resilience, the positive impact of
development projects can be significantly increased.
E.g. the selection of technologies and crop varieties can make a major
difference in the impact of an agricultural project.
2. Climate sensitivity check
This helps assess the degree to which a project is “climate sensitive”.
(i) Geographic location
Will the project be implemented in an area that is highly exposed to the impacts of climate
change?
E.g. Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia are vulnerable to drought; Coastal regions are often
vulnerable to rises in sea level and increased coastal flooding.
(ii) Are project activities sensitive to climate change?
Some kinds of development project are more readily affected by climate than others. This is especially
true of those projects focussed on natural resources and agriculture. Thus if your projects deal with the
following, then climate change may threaten the sustainability and/or sustainability of its impacts:
Agriculture and livestock
Fisheries
Forest, water or soil management
Other ecosystem goods and services
(iii) Project beneficiaries
Are the target groups for the project particularly vulnerable to climate change?
The following social groups are typically the most vulnerable to climate change:
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 42
People dependent on natural resource-based livelihoods, including agriculture (particularly rain
fed agriculture), fisheries and forest based activities.
Poor women and marginalised groups.
Landless people.
People with limited mobility.
Refugees and other displaced people.
Basic project screening In many cases, projects that are not directly affected by climate change (such as HIV/AIDS, infant and
maternal health and micro-finance projects) will still benefit from considering:
How more frequent and/or intense extreme weather can impact project activities or target
groups;
How changing rainfall patterns, increasing average temperatures and extreme weather can affect
availability and accessibility of critical livelihoods and project resources;
How changing climatic conditions can affect social structures and relations in target communities;
How climate change related policies can support or constrain project implementation.
3. Key Concepts for Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into
Projects
Climate change
The intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change as:
Any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human
activity.
Vulnerability to Climate Change
The degree to which a system (natural or human) is susceptible to, or unable to cope with
adverse effects of climate change, including climate vulnerability and extremes.
Vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude and rate of climate variation to which a
system is exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity.
In this document we are referring to vulnerable communities. Since communities are not uniform,
particular households or individuals within communities may have differing degrees of vulnerability.
Sensitivity is the degree to which a given community or ecosystem is affected by climatic
stresses.
E.g. a community dependent on rain-fed agriculture is much more sensitive to changing rainfall patterns
than one where mining is the dominant livelihood.
Adaptive Capacity
The ability of a system (human or natural) to adjust to climate change to moderate potential
damage, to take advantage of opportunities or to cope with consequences.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 43
An important factor shaping the adaptive capacity of individuals, households and communities is their
access to and over natural, human, social, physical and financial resources.
Examples of resources affecting adaptive capacity to climate change include:
Human Knowledge of risks, agricultural skills, health to be able to labour
Social Women’s savings and loans groups, farmer based organisations, social
support
Physical Irrigation infrastructure, seed and grain storage facilities
Natural Reliable water sources, productive land, vegetation and trees
Financial Micro loans, diversified income sources
In general the poorest people often have limited access to those livelihoods resources that would
facilitate adaptation. Access to and control over these resources also varies within countries,
communities and even within households. It is also influenced by external factors such as policies,
institutions and power structures.
Resilience
The ability of a system (human or natural) to resist, absorb, and recover from the effects of hazards in a
timely and efficient manner, preserving or restoring its essential basic structures, functions and identity.
A resilient community is well-placed to manage hazards, to minimise their effects and/or recover quickly
from any negative impacts, resulting in a similar or improved state as compared to before the hazard
occurred.
Hazard
A dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition that may cause loss of life, injury or
other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption,
or environmental damage.
Sustainable livelihoods
This proofing tool focuses on the analysis and integration of climate change adaptation from the
perspective of the sustainable livelihoods25 approach.
Adaptation to climate change
An adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or
their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.
25
APT has adopted the following definition for sustainable livelihoods: “Livelihoods are the means by which households obtain and maintain
access to the resources necessary to ensure their immediate and long-term survival. These essential resources are physical, natural, human,
financial, social, and political. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance
its capabilities, assets and entitlements both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base”
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 44
Adaptation is a process focused on reducing vulnerability, which usually involves building adaptive
capacity, particularly of the most vulnerable people. It also involves ensuring projects don’t increase
vulnerability.
Since reducing vulnerability is the foundation of adaptation, a detailed understanding of who is
vulnerable and why is needed.
4. Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Projects
Gathering and analysing information on climate risks, vulnerability and adaptive capacity is crucial for
the integration of climate change adaption into the project cycle – design, implementation; M&E. Existing
coping strategies should also be better understood.
4.1 Key issues to consider
Analyse: The past, current and future climate context in the project area; livelihoods-climate linkages for different
groups in the community; institutional and policy environment related to climate change, including
poverty, gender and marginalisation.
Design
Q Is adaptation to climate change reflected in project objectives and expected results?
Is there risk mitigation in the context of climate change?
Have you incorporated climate resilient livelihoods?
Have you tried to address the underlying causes of vulnerability to climate change?
How will you create an enabling policy/institutional environment for adaptation particularly at the local
level, but also at district and if feasible national levels?
Design effective knowledge sharing and M&E strategies.
Develop indicators for monitoring changes in adaptive capacity for different groups during project
implementation.
Implementation Establish appropriate partnerships to achieve effective results.
Monitor the context and adjust project approach in response to the findings and lessons learned.
Documentation and dissemination of the project approach, results and lessons.
Past and current climate context
Q What are the past and current climate hazards (events and conditions) affecting the target area? Are
these worse hazards now than they used to be?
What evidence of climate change is already being observed? Anecdotal information concerning past
and current seasonal climate – focus on temperature and rainfall patterns. Events to consider
include heavy rains, droughts, floods and extreme weather events.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 45
How will the frequency and intensity of climate change events change in the future?
Are there any non-climate related hazards that present important risks in the target area? Climate
change tends to aggravate other development pressures or changes so these should be taken into
account. E.g. population growth and poverty.
For agricultural projects: What are the key seasonal food and income security patterns? What might
the impact of climate hazards on resources and production be in the future?
Key source of information: National meteorological services and National
Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs).
Livelihoods: linkages for different groups within the community
Q Which social or economic groups within the community are particularly vulnerable to climate
change?
Which resources are most important to the livelihoods of different social groups, including men,
women and marginalised/vulnerable individuals/groups?
E.g. crops and species for people involved in agriculture.
How do current climate hazards affect livelihoods and related resources of different groups?
Which livelihood resources are most vulnerable to climate change?
Are current coping strategies used by different groups to deal with climate hazards effective and
sustainable?
Do current coping strategies differ from the ones used in the past? If yes, why?
Which livelihoods resources are needed to build longer term adaptive capacity?
What opportunities exist for diversification of livelihoods? E.g. both within agriculture and to non-
agricultural livelihoods strategies? What are the constraints to this?
Particular attention should be paid to gender differences in adaptive
capacity. Efforts to promote adaptation in communities must be gender sensitive, based on different roles,
capacities and challenges that men and women face in sustaining their livelihoods in a changing
climate.
Institutional and policy environment
Q
Which policies and institutions (local, district and national) have the most impact in terms of
facilitating or constraining adaptation?
What capacity exists in the above institutions including civil society organisations in the target area to
plan and implement climate change adaptation?
Is CC adaptation effectively integrated into relevant policies and programmes (such as land use
planning?
How strong are linkages between national adaptation policies and district and local implementation?
The expectation is that particularly at district level, this will be weak.
Are resources allocated for adaptation activities at national, district and local levels? What type of
activities are funded?
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 46
What organisations may be potential partners in project activities?
Based on the results of the analysis, ways to strengthen existing
partnerships, or formation of new partnership should be recommended and
undertaken by the project.
Vulnerability to Climate Change for agricultural projects Most of the world’s poor rural communities are subsistence farmers who depend mainly on rainfall for
their production.
Q Who makes decisions on planting and harvesting crops for the household?
Who is responsible for agricultural labour?
Who makes decisions on using or selling agricultural products?
What are the constraints to innovation and/or risk management in agriculture, such as insecure land
tenure or lack of inputs?
What is the level of household income?
4.2 Climate resilient livelihoods
Integrating adaptation into a livelihoods project may result in objectives and expected results that are
slightly different from those that we would strive for in a project that doesn’t take climate change into
account. However the aim is not to turn every project into a climate change project but to make sure the
objectives are relevant to the climate change.
People should be able to have a range of options available to them to sustain their livelihoods under
different conditions. Diversification of livelihoods both within agriculture and to non- agricultural not
climate sensitive activities is a key risk management strategy.
Q Are livelihoods-related project activities sustainable and resilient to climate change?
Are the crop and livestock types being promoted by the project appropriate to the climatic
projections?
Does the project build the capacity of stakeholders to access and use weather and climate
information?
Will the project develop local capacity beyond immediate coping mechanisms?
Do project activities promote efficient use of resources for agriculture such as land water and inputs?
Does the project incorporate diversification to off-farm livelihoods strategies that may be less
sensitive to climate hazards?
Do project activities support diversification of livelihoods by target groups, particularly diversification
to non-agricultural activities or more climate-resilient agricultural practices?
Do project activities facilitate access to services, such as financial services or extension services
which support adaptation?
Does the project aim to influence local plans and policies to support climate resilient livelihoods
strategies?
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 47
People should be able to have a range of options available to them to
sustain their livelihoods under different conditions. Diversification of
livelihoods both within agriculture and to non- agricultural not climate
sensitive activities is a key risk management strategy.
4.3 Disaster risk reduction
Q Do project activities include DDR strategies for agriculture, including early warning systems for
droughts and floods?
Does the project include measures to protect crops from climate events?
Does the project promote safe storage of seed to protect them from extreme weather events?
Does the project support project stakeholders in establishing safe storage facilities for harvested
products?
Key institutions for local capacity development in agricultural projects Farmer based organisations or cooperatives
NGOs involved in agricultural extension and development
Local representatives ministries involved in land use planning
4.4 Conflict and climate change resilience
Violent conflicts generally leave people more vulnerable to stresses, including those associated with
climate. As a result, people in post-conflict settings have a limited capacity to prepare for and recover
from shocks and stresses including floods and droughts.
Understanding how a project area has been affected by conflict, as well as identifying those drivers of
conflict that may be affected by current and future climate trends, could help ensure a project builds
adaptive capacity and does not increase vulnerability.
4.5 Objectives and expected results
Q Does the project seek to ensure access to and control over land and other resources for poor and
vulnerable groups?
Does the project include strategies to resolve conflicts over land and other agricultural resources?
Does the project address challenges associated with access to markets and adding value to
agricultural resources?
Does the project facilitate access to financial services such as savings, credit and insurance?
Do activities seek to ensure participation of communities, and of particular vulnerable groups within
communities, in planning for land use management?
Have project stakeholders, including particularly vulnerable groups, been effectively involved in the
project design process?
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 48
4.6 Documentation and dissemination of project approach, results
and lessons
Project reports should clearly indicate the impacts that can be attributed to climate change adaptation;
Key lessons should be summarised in reports and other documents;
Different types of media should be used to document and disseminate the project knowledge to different
target users.
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 49
Annexe 3 – Training Modules used in Uganda
MODULE TARGET Training material
developed by:
TRAINING DONE BY
1. SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SKILLS Young people in
business/Apprentices
Care
International
Project staff & District Commercial
officer
Module 1: Introduction to business
Module 2: Business management
Module 3: Marketing
Module 4: Costing and pricing
Module 5: Record keeping
Module 6: Business planning
2. FORMATION AND MANAGEMENT OF FARMERS’ SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS
Farmers groups Project (VEDCO) Project staff & Sub-county
Community Development Officer
Module 1: Promotion
Module 2: Introduction to saving
Module 3: Savings and Loan Associations
Module 4: Making a group constitution
Module 5: Group governance
Module 6: Managing group loans
3. FARMING AS A BUSINESS (FAAB) Young farmers in
agriculture production
Project (VEDCO) Project staff & District Commercial
officer
Module 1: Business skills development as an introduction to Farming as a Business
Module 2: Recordkeeping and work planning.
Module 3: Modern versus Traditional farming practices
Module 4: Sources of funds for investment in production
Module 5: Collective Value addition and working in farmer groups
Module 6: Risk management strategies
4. POST-HARVEST HANDLING TECHNIQUES Young farmers involved Project (VEDCO) Project staff
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 50
in agriculture
production
Module 1: Introduction to Grain Post Harvest Systems and Post-Harvest Food Loss Prevention
Module 2: Grain Drying and threshing Methods
Module 3: Grain Storage Methods
Training manual Crop production and
productivity in Uganda
Livelihood for young
people
Project (VEDCO) Project staff
Module 1: Planning farming operations
Module 2: Planting field crops
Module 3: Crop nutrition
Module 4: Weeds and their control
Module 5: Pests and disease mngt.
5. IMPROVING NUTRITION PRACTICES AMONG RURAL FARMERS IN UGANDA
Young farmers involved
in agriculture
production and
vulnerable households
Project (VEDCO) Project staff
Module 1: Session 1: Foods and their roles in the body
Module 2: Nutritional Problems in Children
Module 3: Growth Monitoring
Module 4: Feeding young children to improve weight status
Module 5: Feeding young children to improve iron status
Module 6: Feeding young children to improve vitamin A status
Module 7: Management of nutrition in pregnant women
Module 8: Good nutrition for breastfeeding women
Module 9: Hygiene practices that reduce spread of infection
Module 10: Household facilities that enhance hygiene
Group formation and dynamics Young people in groups Project (VEDCO) Project staff & Sub-county
Community Development Officer
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 51
Module 1:group formation
Module 2:group management
Module3:Effective Group leadership
Module4:Qualities of a good leader
Module 5:developing group vision, mission ,goals and objectives
Module 6:how to handle group meetings
Module 7:group conflict situation
Module 8:group problem solving
Training manual for Animal
Management.
Young people raring
animals
FAO/DDA Project staff and District Vet. Officer
Module :1 Feeding of boar goats
Module2:Animal breeding and breed improvement
Module 3: Animal health and disease control
Sustainable agriculture practices and
technologies
Livelihood for young
people
Africa 2000
Network
Project staff & sub-county NAADS
officers
Module 1:Soil fertility management
Module 2:Soil and water conservation
Other manuals /training conducted Livelihood for young
people & Climate
change
Training on energy saving stoves GREEN BIO-ENERGY
UGANDA
Training on HIV awareness ACET
Training on gender equity and gender based violence WORUDET
Training on human rights WAR CHILD UK
Training on advocacy and lobbying VEDCO, FRA, ESAAF
Training on land rights, land policies and land conflict resolution ULA
Training on apiary management KIWEPI/project staff
Building livelihoods and adapting to climate change in a post conflict setting 52
Training on briquettes production GREEN BIO-ENERGY
UGANDA
Training on tree nursery management TREE TALK, District forestry
dept.
Training on business counselling Project staff
Training on climate change awareness, mitigation and adoption Project staff
Training on government policies and planning Project staff
TOT training for staff Staff
TOT in Gender & Government planning processes External Consultant
TOT Making markets work for the poor APT
TOT Business Counselling APT
TOT Advocacy and Lobbying VEDCO Advocacy dept.
TOT on Business Management APT
TOT on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Consultant from CAN U.
TOT on Value Chain development VEDCO